1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tactile display device having a tactile display constituted of a plurality of projections and, specifically, relates to a tactile display device that facilitates the wiring for actuators moving the projections.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tactile display devices with a tactile display from which projections selectively protrude are used as Braille cells, which are means for transmitting information for the visually impaired.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications Nos. 2001-147637 and 2007-71977 describe techniques related to Braille cells. Such a Braille cell has a plurality of holes in an area for contact that comes into contact with the user's finger. Detection pins are placed inside the holes in a retractable manner. Piezoelectric bimorph elements are provided as actuators. The piezoelectric bimorph elements are fixed at the ends, and the other ends are opposed to the bottom of the detection pins. At least one of the actuators is selected, and electricity is supplied thereto. Upon receiving electricity, the actuators bend, causing the corresponding detection pins to protrude due to the bending force of the actuators.
A predetermined number of detection pints, which each correspond to a Braille dot, represents a single Braille letter. Letter information can be obtained by running a finger across the Braille letter.